Nighttime Rituals To Boost Your Productivity

Whether you’re seeking a serene environment for sleeping or trying to get a head start for the following day, you need a great nighttime routine in order to wake up the next day feeling ready to be productive. Here are some nighttime rituals you should incorporate into your daily life.

Properly Balance Work/Family Time

For a lot of people, the workday is not over by 5 PM. More than half of full-time workers in America put in more than a 40 hours of work per week and a third of working Americans work weekends.

If you want to build a good night routine, you have to find a way to balance your work with quality family time.

Telecommuting and flexible working hours are becoming more common. See if your employer is willing to accommodate you. If they’re smart, they’ll realize that a happy and refreshed employee is the most productive.

When you’re at home, you can designate a workspace for yourself so that members of your family will know when not to disturb you.

Put your phone on silent when it’s family time so you won’t be tempted to check it every time it beeps.

Adopt Good Sleep Hygiene

Sleep hygiene is not about keeping your sheets and pillowcases clean. It involves putting efforts into make it easier for you to sleep well.

If there are no cues to let your system know it’s time to wind down, it might be difficult for you to keep your mind quiet as soon as you’re in bed. It is very important to create boundaries between time to work and time to wind down, particularly for self employed entrepreneurs, remote workers, or anybody who takes work home.

There are no set rules for what the appropriate method of sleep hygiene is. But here are some practices you can adopt:

Stay away from alcohol or caffeine several hours before your bedtime.

Have a steady bedtime every night.

Drink warm milk or some herbal tea, or eat a light snack.

You can try doing some activities that are screen-free like reading or meditating.

Try to make your bedroom as quiet and serene as possible.

Make your room dark and keep the room quiet.

Your bed is for sleeping and your body needs to know this so don’t linger in bed eating or watching TV.

Get A Full Nights Rest

I’m sure you’ve heard of super successful people who succeed on little sleep. It was reported that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey had to work for 16 hours daily in order to concentrate all his attention on Twitter and Square. People like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Marissa Mayer, Sergio Marchionne of Fiat and several others survive on 4-6 hours of sleep every night.

But is it right for you? Probably not. Surviving on nothing other than a “glorified power nap” is more related to genes than any form of motivation. Approximately 5% of the world doesn’t require more than a few hours rest to feel refreshed and this can be linked to a genetic mutation.

Most people need at least 7 to 9 hours of rest nightly, but they’re not necessarily getting it. More than 50 million adults in America suffer from sleep disorders, and about 30% of adults sleep for six hours or less daily.

But hey if you’re already up, then you should probably take advantage of it, right? Lots of people who are night owls find they are most productive and creative at night.

The founder of JetBlue, David Neeleman, used to work until 2 AM during his tenure as CEO. It was reported that he viewed his ADD as a form of creativity and energy to maintain the company’s growth. Working long after his family had retired for the night and sending out the ideas fresh off his mind were very good strategies that helped him launch JetBlue into the world of competitive airlines.

Conclusion

A good evening routine does more than set you up for more relaxing sleep or help you maximize creative working hours, it sets the tone for the entire next day, helping you feel productive from the second you wake up in the morning.

Do you go to bed early or do you stay up late at night? How do you create a boundary between work and family time?

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About The Author

Edwin is the money hacking millennial behind Cash The Checks. He lives a minimalist lifestyle and is always eager to learn and share his methods to save and make money.